Finding the phone down the side of the chair
Make a lost phone ring from a computer or another phone, even when you left it on silent.
A phone can be made to ring from anywhere in the world, at full volume, even when it is set to silent. It works on the condition that you switched the setting on beforehand, which takes about a minute.
It is one of those settings that is switched on for most people already, put there when the phone was first set up. It is worth checking rather than assuming, because the day you need it is a poor day to find out.
Key points
- Check that a phone can be found before it ever goes missing
- Have it findable even when it is switched off or the battery has gone
- Make it ring at full volume from a computer, silent switch and all
- Know which button on that page is the frightening one, and why you would never need it
What to remember
- Find My lives under your own name at the very top of Settings, not under a heading about phones.
- Play Sound rings the phone at full volume, whatever the silent switch says.
- Play Sound overrides silent on purpose. It is the one sound a phone will always make.
Try this
On a computer, go to icloud.com/find for an iPhone or google.com/android/find for an Android, sign in, and press Play Sound while your phone is in the next room. Doing it once, calmly, is what makes it findable in your memory on the day you need it.
Practice: Finding the phone down the side of the chair. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.